Chevrolet must not back off its Silverado video

Recently, I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about how the only way advertising works in this age of TVs, iPads, iPhones and all the information we get over the Internet is if that advertising is bold.

There’s just too much out there and so much advertising gets lost in the noise. The messages are the same tired ones, the overall feeling from them are bland and advertisers soon move onto a new campaign that is just more of the same.

But the lack of boldness still dominates advertising, which is why a simple video by Chevrolet has gone viral. The video shows the bed of a Ford F-150 truck being pummeled by falling bricks while the Chevrolet Silverado suffers minimal damage. In just 48 hours, the video has 3.3 million views.

The Silverado video is exactly what Chevrolet should be doing.

I get the entertainment factor but I also think its viewers are responding to a brand directly taking on another, something brands are too often afraid to do.

It seems even Chevrolet is hesitant. Sandor Piszar, director of truck marketing for Chevrolet, told Marketing Daily that the video “isn’t an attack on Ford.”

What? That’s exactly what it is and Chevrolet should do more of it. Why is Piszar backing off? If he wants to the video to get more notice and, more importantly, more truck customers to prefer the Silverado, then he should say: “Yes, we are directly taking on the Ford F-150. The Chevrolet Silverado is clearly superior.”

It’s systematic of advertising today that even when a brand (Chevy) has taken the bold move to face a competitor one-on-one that it backs off.

Isn’t the point of stealing market share that you’re stealing it from a competitor?

Chevrolet must not back off its Silverado video was last modified: June 13th, 2016 by Tom Dougherty